East Orange Bumps Minimum Wage To $15

Two North Jersey municipalities – Bloomfield and East Orange - are poised to join the growing movement for a $15-per-hour minimum wage.

On Feb. 4, the City of East Orange entered into a contract with CWA Local 1077, raising the minimum hourly wage for 99.5 percent of its municipal employees to $15 an hour, with the remaining workers to receive an increase to $15 in 2018.

“Simply put, we put our money where our mouth is,” East Orange Mayor Lester E. Taylor III said following the agreement’s signing. “I encourage other communities to do the same.”

During a Bloomfield Township Council conference meeting on Monday, Mayor Mike Venezia introduced a $15 minimum hourly wage proposal for municipal workers.

"Just like when Bloomfield became one of the first municipalities in the state to mandate earned sick days last year, our township is now once showing that it is one of the progressive leaders of New Jersey in ensuring that all of our employees earn a living wage," Venezia stated. "Raising our minimum wage to $15 an hour provides a strong signal that we mean what we say and are willing to back it up with action, not just words. I am proud to see Bloomfield continue to be on the leading edge of progressive reforms that put working families first."

Several other North Jersey municipalities and areas have had their own recent brushes with the movement to reach the $15 mark.

In October, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders advocated that state legislators raise the New Jersey minimum wage to $15.

"Many people who work hard every day still cannot afford the basic necessities in life such as food, housing, transportation and childcare,” Freeholder President Britnee Timberlake stated at the time.

“This is because the minimum wage is too low compared to the rising cost of living. How is it that over the years the cost of everything seems to be increasing, including housing, utilities, tolls, taxes, a gallon of milk or a carton of eggs, but when the topic of raising the minimum wage to a living wage is discussed, some people do not agree?"

In February, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop announced that more than 500 city employees will have their pay bumped to the municipality’s new $15 hourly wage.

The move was accomplished via an Executive Order and was reflected in the administration’s tax-neutral budget introduced last week, city administrators stated.

• See related article: Jersey City Raises Workers' Wages To $15

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka also recently pushed for a $15 minimum wage for employees at Newark Liberty International Airport.

• See related article: Newark Mayor Pushes For $15 Hourly Wage At Newark Airport

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Photos courtesy of New Jersey Working Families

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